White Lines and Red Lights
by Nights Sleepless
Summary: He can't help but notice the way the red light makes her face a little more beautiful, as if that were possible. Lassiter/Juliet. One-shot. R/R please!


I was sitting here, listening to music when the song _White Lines and Red Lights by Between The Trees_ came on, and gave me the idea for this fic. Pretty much Lassiet. Although I'm a HUGE HUGE Shules lover and supporter, I can't help but like this pairing too. It's also my first Psych fic, so bare with me.

**DISCLAIMER!! I do NOT own Psych, it's characters, or anything related. **

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The sky was dimming slightly, and Carlton reasoned the streetlights should be coming on soon. For a long moment it was silent in the car, and he felt strangely uncomfortable. She was always talking about something or other. He used to cherish those silent car rides before her. Never talking to the person sitting beside him. It was always like that, and he had grown used and attached to it. But as soon as she came along it all changed. There never seemed to be one car ride that didn't go unspoken.

Gradually, he began to want her voice to fill the silence. He began to feel awkward and self-conscious when she fell silent. It was only when she was talking about something that he could relax in his seat and think clearly. Sometimes he listened; sometimes he just nodded at the appropriate times. A few times she caught him not listening, and he felt guilty because she would sit silently the rest of the drive. But the next day, there she would be, chatting his ear off again.

A lot of people considered that a character flaw. Carlton really didn't know what to file it under. Of course, he complained about people who talked too much, and generally told them to shut the hell up. But with Juliet...he didn't know why it was different. A few times he told her to be quiet in the beginning when he was still used to silence. But she ignored him and he stopped trying. Stop wanting to try. He saw movement in the corner of his eye and listened as she spoke. "Look, it's the first star."

He glanced over, but not at the star. She was leaning forward, straining the seat belt. Her chin was inches from the dashboard, and her neck craned up to peer at the sky. If he wasn't Carlton, he would consider it being one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen. But he was Carlton Lassiter, and thus such thoughts often strayed away from his mind. But somewhere in the back of his mind this particular sight was registering and he was thinking about it. He just wasn't aware of that fact. Slowly stopping at a red light, he couldn't help but peek at her again. The light was lighting up her face just perfectly as she stared dreamily at the star. He let his eyes linger on her a little longer, he couldn't help it. Especially the way she turned and looked at him, smiling sweetly, the light following her and making her look more radiant.

"Did you see how beautiful it looks?" She asked him, looking back at the star.

"Yes." He answered, his eyes locked on her. It was how he knew the light turned green, basking her face in the color. Quickly, he turned back to the road and began to drive again.

"You didn't even see it." She said, sitting back in her seat and staring ahead.

"I didn't have to." He told her, surprised at how...unguarded his tone was. How relaxed, so much unlike his alpha dog, brutal tone he used when speaking to her. To anyone. "I trust you when you said it." He glanced at her and she was smiling at him gently. He clutched the steering wheel tighter, snapping his eyes back to the road. But her smile still lingered in his mind. Confused, and wanting to pay attention to nothing but the road, he began to count the white lines on the road. He had only gotten up to twenty seven when she spoke again.

"Stop driving so fast. It would be pretty ironic for the Head Detective to get a speeding ticket from someone like...McNab." He glanced at the speedometer and realized he was going ten miles over the speed limit. Without looking at her or speaking he decreased his speed. "What's wrong?" She questioned.

"What?" He asked, glancing at her, not catching her words.

"Whenever you speed up like that it's usually because you're anxious, or angry." Juliet pointed out. "And since you most likely aren't anxious to get back to the Police Department and start to fill paperwork, I'm guessing you're angry about...something..." She trailed off and Carlton became aware of how intensely she was staring at him, trying to figure it out.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about." He answered coolly after a moment.

"Uh-huh." She said slowly. Her nose was pinched and her eyes were on the verge with squinting. Carlton had been her partner long enough to know that she was thinking really hard about something. He just didn't know how he felt about the fact that in this instance it was about him. "If you say so..." She said, her voice rising in tone, which suggested she didn't believe him.

Chuckling, he shook his head subconsciously. It was strange how easily he had gotten to know all of her body language habits. For instance, when she finds something funny but doesn't want to laugh, her lips twitch slightly. Or when she was nervous, she couldn't stop moving her hands. They would run through her hair, or clasp in front of her, only to find something else to do. Even when she was thinking about something sad about a case, she becomes very quiet, and stares at her hands. "What?" She asked him, and he almost jumped, getting lost in thought. Glancing at her, he shifted in his seat. "What was funny?"

"Nothing." He answered after a minute. It was so easy to blurt things in front of her; he had to think carefully before he opened his mouth around her. Sighing, he pulled into his reserved parking space at the department. It was silent as he got out of the car. Opening the back door, he reached in to grab the brief case that had some important information that would help him the next hour. When he closed the door and turned around, he jumped seeing her standing so close to him.

"Your tie is crooked." She noted.

"What?" He asked, still trying to process how close she was standing next to him. He could reach out and touch her cheek...he shook his head slightly.

"I said..." As if to make things more difficult, she took a step closer to him, and he was forced to take another step back, leaning against the car uncertainly. But that hardly mattered, because she was still close enough to make his face grow hot. "Your tie..." Reaching forward, she gently grabbed his tie. He looked down at her. All he could think about was how close her face was to his. Never had he ever been this close to her, nor had this feeling. His hand reflexively went out to rest on her waist. He let it land there, only for a second, quickly pulling away. "...is crooked." She straightened his tie and looked satisfied. Glancing up to his eyes for a moment, she lingered close to him before stepping back.

"Thanks." He said, skeptically. "Could have done that myself..."

She smiled. "I know." He watched as she turned confidently and walked away. It took him a moment to find his feet and follow her. All he could see though was her close face imprinted in his memory.

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Thanks for reading all the way to the end :) I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Please review! Only a little more than a week left till it comes back on again. I'm psyched. (Pun intended)


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